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GPU Stuttering with Squealing Noise

R

RickyRozay

Joined
Jul 18, 2014
Messages
155 (0.04/day)
Location
United Kingdom
System Specs
System Name Ciroc
Processor Xeon X5675 4.5GHz
Motherboard ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 (Flashed to P6T WS Pro)
Cooling Noctua NH-D14
Memory 12GB Hynix 1866MHz ECC Triple Channel
Video Card(s) GALAX GTX 970 4GB
Storage Kingston V300 240GB SSD
Display(s) ASUS VG248QE 144Hz 1920x1080
Case None
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair HX1000i
Software Windows 7 Home Premium
Hi Guys,

Recently built this below system

Corsair HX1000 PSU
12 GB 1600Mhz DDR3
Gigabyte EX58-UD4P
i7 930 4GHz
2x GTX 460 SLi 1GB
Kingston 240GB SSD

It has been running fine for days now, but today has started stuttering in games and MSI Afterburner shows this to be confirmed with stuttering GPU usage:

GPUSTUTTERING.png


(I should say during the high parts of the GPU usage, I was playing BF4 but the GPU usage was stuttering up and down for no reason)

There seems to be a squealing noise coming from either the 2nd GPU or the PSU, they are too close together for me to differentiate. However nothing in the system has changed, it just started happening. I have tried switching the 2nd GPU from the 12V1 rail to the 12V2 rail, and still the squealing remains. The squealing also happens at desktop sometimes depending on what is displayed on the screen.

I have also tried downgrading from Forceware 340 to Forceware 337 and the issue remains. Why has this just started out of nowhere?

It's really irritating for me to play games and have to put up with the stuttering. I know some people say about SLi and microstutter etc but it isn't that, because it would have done this from day 1 if it was a software/driver issue.

Any ideas? :(
 
Squealing comes from the caps, it's coil whine. Coil whine tends to happen mostly when VSync isn't enabled, or when certain types of loads are put on the GPU.

It's also worth noting that 1GB of VRAM is going to absolutely crush under the weight of BF4. It's probably offloading textures into RAM, causing some amount of slowdown.

Have you tried running with a single GPU instead?
 
I have to say the game doesn't run any slower, it's just the erratic GPU behaviour sometimes causes these weird pauses of like 0.1 seconds.

I could run it with 1 card but then I don't see the benefit of buying an SLI motherboard. And I've been playing BF4 on the same settings for days with no issues, and nothing about the system has changed. This has just randomly started happening and now won't stop. All the connections are solid and the SLI bridge hasn't come loose or anything.
 
RickyRozay said:
I have to say the game doesn't run any slower, it's just the erratic GPU behaviour sometimes causes these weird pauses of like 0.1 seconds.

I could run it with 1 card but then I don't see the benefit of buying an SLI motherboard. And I've been playing BF4 on the same settings for days with no issues, and nothing about the system has changed. This has just randomly started happening and now won't stop. All the connections are solid and the SLI bridge hasn't come loose or anything.
Click to expand...

Try it with one card, and see if the issue persists. I ask this because it is likely that one GPU is shafted.
 
Do you think that would cause both GPU's to have erratic usage? I will try it and get back to you.
 
95Viper said:
Coil whine comes from coils... Acoustic or thermal noise comes from capacitors , as far as I recall.
Click to expand...

Sorry, specifically the inductors.
 
95Viper said:
Just messing with you, RCoon. :)
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with being corrected :) It's happened more than once, and I expect more to come!
 
Hi,

So I have removed the 2nd GPU and tried playing with a single GPU and the squealing is just as bad.

The stuttering persists, and the pitch of the squealing and pattern matches with the pattern of stuttering.

stutering.png


What next?
 
Swap GPU and test with the other one.
It might be the PSU making the noise.
 
Well I have swapped the PSU to an OCZ StealthXStream 600W and the squealing / stuttering still persists. So the PSU is now not in question.

The Palit GTX 460 1GB with the new PSU was making this pattern:

newpsu.png


And I then swapped to the OEM GTX 460 1GB (which for some reason only takes 1xPCI-E 6 pin connector instead of 2, and has slightly lower clocks), which produced this pattern:

gpuworst.png


It was stuttering just as much as the other card. So I guess both GPU's are stuttering seperately, so it is not being caused by them either.

The only other thing it could possibly be is the motherboard and the CPU, but I'm not sure how I could eliminate the motherboard seperately...

I have raised VCore to an amount wayyy above what it should be, and that didn't change anything.

Need some other ideas please :(
 
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Is that a squeal, or an alarm? Run RealTemp and monitor your CPU temperature. (or the Gigabyte utility)
Secondly, load GPU-z and check those GTX 460's. Have a feeling that the one with only 1 6 pin connector is a "V2" which will not SLI with a "V1". V1=GF104, V2=GF114
 
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thebluebumblebee said:
Is that a squeal, or an alarm? Run RealTemp and monitor your CPU temperature. (or the Gigabyte utility)
Secondly, load GPU-z and check those GTX 460's. Have a feeling that the one with only 1 6 pin connector is a "V2" which will not SLI with a "V1". V1=GF104, V2=GF114
Click to expand...

Already done when I got them, they are both GF104 :)

My CPU temps at load with Prime95 are only 75c with the i7 @ 4GHz, and a Noctua NH-D14 with AS5.

The GPU temp never goes much above 80c on both cards at full load, both separately and in SLI.
 
Do you have another GPU you can test with to see if the noise remains with another card entirely?
 
I'm afraid I don't. Limited funds :)
 
Well if it's not to much trouble could you try it without the gpu's entirely?
That motherboard has integrated graphics of it's own listed below, At least then we could eliminate the board as the problem granted you won't be able to stress the graphics much with it but it will remove something else to worry about being the motherboard/cpu/psu. If the noise persists without the gpu's then we can narrow down the search for a fault.

Any friends that could lend you a gpu for a short time?
  • Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 (Intel GMA 3100)
 
Have you recently updated video drivers?
veiledcascade said:
Well if it's not to much trouble could you try it without the gpu's entirely?
That motherboard has integrated graphics of it's own listed below, At least then we could eliminate the board as the problem granted you won't be able to stress the graphics much with it but it will remove something else to worry about being the motherboard/cpu/psu. If the noise persists without the gpu's then we can narrow down the search for a fault.

Any friends that could lend you a gpu for a short time?
  • Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 (Intel GMA 3100)
Click to expand...

While the CPU may support it, the motherboard running it appears not to have a video port in the rear I/O.
 
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3134#ov

I took his motherboard model and checked gigabytes listing it should have a vga port, Maybe a revision that was done doesn't have it.

Well another gpu if that is the case would help but if you don't have one that would make it difficult to localize, I'll keep thinking though:)
 
Oh nope forget that I took the listing from his system specs on the tab...Ignore that lol I just realized where I went wrong:)
 
sneekypeet said:
Have you recently updated video drivers?

While the CPU may support it, the motherboard running it appears not to have a video port in the rear I/O.
Click to expand...

I was running Forceware 340 when the problem started, and I have never installed any other drivers or updated them. I tried to downgrade to 337 to see if it would rectify the problem but it has not.

And you're correct, no video port on the motherboard's I/O.

My last ditch effort was to disconnect all unnecessary fans, which had no effect.

I have a new theory though, because I can hear the PSU squealing and we all now know it's not the video cards. I think the motherboard or CPU is demanding something of the PSU. Some component in the computer is PUTTING the PSU under a strain that makes it squeal, since the other PSU produced the same effect...

There is something in my system that is mistreating the PSU, but I wouldn't have a clue how to find it what it is.

I've increased VCore to a silly amount, and decreased it very low, which has made no difference. I've checked all BIOS settings and there's nothing obvious.

I am however on the latest BIOS for this board, which was released in 2011 and is titled "14something beta", is it possible to flash backwards to a previous BIOS or can you only go forwards?
 
When you are uninstalling drivers, are you taking any further actions to clean the PC after?

Just for gits and shiggles, I would try doing a full driver removal and cleaning, then try a driver closer to the release time of those cards and see if the issue persists.

Also to help isolate where the noise is coming from, look around the house for a tube, the roll from paper towels works well. Put one end to your ear, the other end, walk it around the GPUs and PSU, even the top of the motherboard, find where the squeal is loudest.
 
Last edited:
sneekypeet said:
When you are uninstalling drivers, are you taking any further actions to clean the PC after?

Just for gits and shiggles, I would try doing a full driver removal and cleaning, then try a driver closer to the release time of those cards and see if the issue persists.

Also to help isolate where the noise is coming from, look around the house for a tube, the roll from paper towels works well. Put one end to your ear, the other end, walk it around the GPUs and PSU, even the top of the motherboard, find where the squeal is loudest.
Click to expand...

It's definitely the PSU making the noise, no question about it. Very loud.

I've a good mind to just sell the whole thing and start again -.- I would if someone would buy it for the amount I spent on it, but doubtful...

So I'm just stuck with it! Honestly, I'm shit out of ideas...
 
RMA the PSU! If applicable, that is an older model. I had to send my AX1200 in for noise, but never noticed a GPU issue. Maybe you have both the PSU whine and a driver issue, not sure.
 
sneekypeet said:
RMA the PSU! If applicable, that is an older model. I had to send my AX1200 in for noise, but never noticed a GPU issue. Maybe you have both the PSU whine and a driver issue, not sure.
Click to expand...

Well I've tried an OCZ StealthXStream 600W PSU in this system as welland it produced the same whine, so it's not the PSU unit itself.

Nor is it the individual cards as tested separately they both produce the same result.

SOL.
 
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